Looking for apps in the Android Market? Good luck. The Android Market is growing faster than it is improving, so finding that next great app is a challenge. Androinica.com encourages users to tweet great apps with the #androidapps tag on Twitter, which we plan to incorporate into periodic notifications of new, updated, or useful apps. Get to downloading and keep telling us about those exciting #androidapps.

Here is the first installment of our Android App Alert series.

NEW APPS

Battery Widget (FREE)

Battery issues in the G1 / HTC Dream are a long saga. With the introduction of widgets in Android 1.5, Cupcake phones now have the benefit of easily monitoring their battery level with mippin’s Battery Widget. The 1×1 widget remains on the homescreen to display the battery percentage remaining on the phone. Clicking on the widget then brings up a shortcut to three common battery-affecting features: Screen Brightness, Wireless, and GPS.

You can also find similar apps in the Android Market like Battery Status and Battery Percentage if this isn’t your speed. Ironically, these apps may affect your battery. I haven’t seen that much of a difference to make it matter, but running widgets or certain background apps contributes to battery usage.

Twidgit Lite

Twidgit Lite is another recently unveiled widget for Android. Twidgit displays the latest tweet from a user’s following feed on the home screen. It provides access to reply or quickly launch a comment box to write your own tweet. Twidgit can automatically refresh every 5-60 minutes, or only when the user desires. While this won’t be a viable solution to replace your more feature-laden apps like Twidroid, TwitterRide, etc., it’s a quicker way to comment than loading up one of those bigger Android Twitter apps. Not to mention the look is pretty cool.

Android GP2x emulator (not yet available)

*Root users only

I will usually restrict this post to readily available apps, but this is clearly worth highlighting. Android GP2x is part of the emulator race to get solid versions of classic video gaming systems playable on the G1/Dream. As a good portion of my childhood was “wasted away” playing Samurai Showdown, Street Fighter II, and Super Mario Bros., I’m anxiously awaiting this app to be completed. A video shows that the GP2x project is in pretty good shape, but it’s still in development. A beta version will be sent out next month to those who donated to the project. Visit Android GP2X World for more information. Root access and debian will be required to run this app.

Express News World Edition (FREE)

News junkies have a new tool to follow the global events stream with Express News World Edition. Tapping into over 300 news sources from around the world, including major sources like the Associated Press and BBC, the app is truly global. Read Androinica.com’s full review of the app and decide if its worth getting your news.

RECOMMENDED APPS

Ringdroid (FREE)

Ringdroid was one of my favorite apps but it suddenly stopped working for me several weeks ago. After getting the Cupcake update from T-Mobile, I can once again use it to create my own ringtones. Ringdroid loads audio files into an editor that can be zoomed in or out. Move two sliding start and end points to highlight your selection, save the file as a ringtone or notification, and you have a new sound clip to use on your phone.

GDocs (FREE BETA)

Google Docs users will obviously enjoy using GDocs, an app that integrates with Google’s online document service. GDocs can read, edit, or create a Google document. Files can be saved to the SD card and then uploaded to an online Google Docs account, making this a handy note or document tool. GDocs can also export to the SD card. If you cannot gain Internet access, say in a hotel room, download your Google Docs file and then export it to the SD card and mount it to the laptop. According to Google Doc’s Android Market listing, this version will “expire on July 1, 2009,” so it may either upgrade, become a pay app, or relaunch into something different.

Courtesy of: @begottensunIf u use Google Docs a lot the “GDocs” is a great free #androidapps for on the fly edits, downloads and creating new docs on ur #G1 (beta)

MyBackup Pro – $4.99

In our Manage Your Bookmarks post, we mentioned MyBackup Pro as a great way to backup some of your phone’s data. MyBackup saves applications, contacts, call logs, bookmarks, SMS and MMs messages, settings, shortcuts, and much more. Why would you need this? Well, when I recently had to factory reset my G1, I had to re-enter my 20+ bookmarks and lost some numbers/text messages that I needed. I wished I had installed MyBackup Pro. Then I could have just loaded that stuff from my SD card and avoided the headache.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but how do the QR tags help here? I scanned it in 3Bananas, pasted the link into the browser, and it sent me to another application list on another blog. I was expecting something that would help me download the application in question…

Download the Barcode Scanner app from your Android phone. Then open the app and scan the QR code. It should bring up a link that directly brings you to the Market listing. Is there a specific QR code that didn't work for you? I